Progress of circulating tumor cells in the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer

Abstract

Esophageal cancer is one of the malignant tumors with the highest morbidity and mortality in China. Its early clinical symptoms are not typical, and the patients are already in the middle and late stage when they go to see the doctor. The 5-year survival rate of these patients is low and the prognosis is poor. At present, the precision medicine is gradually being applied to the field of clinical oncology. The detection of circulating tumor cells (CTC) has the advantages of non-invasive, easy to obtain specimens, reflect the overall state of the tumor, real-time monitoring, etc. The CTC detection has gradually become a hot research direction. CTC is tumor cell detached from the primary or metastatic tumors and released into the peripheral blood circulation. CTC detection can dynamically reflect the status of tumors. Combined with the latest reports at home and abroad, this paper mainly reviews the application and limitations of CTC in the field of esophageal cancer. Key words: Esophageal neoplasms; Neoplastic cells, circulating; Diagnosis; Treatment